DEVELOPMENT CONCEPT “AZERBAIJAN - 2020: OUTLOOK FOR THE FUTURE” Project Additional opportunities have been created to strengthen the material-technical base of political parties and increase their role in the country’s political system and in the development of civil society. The formation of a new system of public relations based on democratic values resulted in important changes in the structure of society and created conditions for citizens to play a more active role in public-political processes. The civil society in the country is currently experiencing an active phase of development. More than 2,700 NGOs are operating in the sphere of human rights, education, health, culture, economy, social issues, ecology, gender and other spheres, and their number is steadily increasing. Over the past 10 years, important steps have been taken to create NGOs and improve the legislative base in order to make effective use of their potential. The necessary environment has been secured to provide NGOs with access to financial sources. Along with that, a free and pluralist press is taking shape in the Azerbaijan Republic in line with world standards. All this was possible as a result of the consistent conduct of a well-thought out and purposeful policy. The state programmes adopted by the country’s leadership, concept and strategic documents and their practical implementation are of special importance as a mechanism of implementing this policy. Suffice it say that there are currently 60 state programmes, strategies and concepts in place, and these are of special importance in developing all spheres of our country’s public life. We can say with full confidence that the transitional period has already ended in Azerbaijan. A new socio-economic system, which is based on free market relations and political pluralism and has its own rules, has been established. The formation of the appropriate infrastructure for the functioning of an effective economy is nearing the end. A reliable system of social security has been established for the population, and this system is currently improving. The President of the Azerbaijan Republic issued an instruction on the preparation of the Development Concept “Azerbaijan – 2020: Look into the Future”. The need to prepare such a concept is due to the fact that our country has stepped into a new stage of development. The achievements that have been gained allow Azerbaijan to set even higher goals and determine the tasks that stem from these goals. 2. Modern challenges The information and communication technologies that rapidly developed and spread in the first decade of the 21st century and the processes of globalization that received a 5